Palestinian rights activist attacked by Arab youths

"As long as the occupation exists, events like this will happen," says victim Daniel Seidemann following weekend east Jerusalem assault.

DANIEL SEIDEMANN 370.
(photo credit:Pulitzercenter.org)

“This ends not when Palestinians behave better, or when our Shin Bet becomes
more efficient,” Israeli activist and attorney Daniel Seidemann wrote on his
Facebook page Sunday – 24-hours after being hospitalized following a
rock-throwing attack while driving his car in east Jerusalem – “It ends when
occupation ends.”

Seidemann, an internationally recognized expert on
contemporary Jerusalem law and outspoken proponent for peaceful coexistence
between Palestinians and Jews, was attacked while traveling home from Sur Bahir
after visiting a Palestinian friend Saturday afternoon.

Despite the
attack being carried out by Palestinian youths – resulting in several stitches
to the back of his scalp – Seidemann, whose law practice specializes in legal
and humanitarian aid in east Jerusalem took to Facebook – while convalescing –
to fault the violence on Israel’s occupation.

Since 1991, Seidemann, a
retired IDF Reserve Major and Ivy-League educated Syracuse native who immigrated
to Israel in 1973, has been a leading figure on the capital’s municipal policies
and practices, representing both Israeli and Palestinian residents of the
capital.

Awarded the title of Honorary Member of the Order of the British
Empire in 2010, Seidemann is also the founder of two NGOs advocating for
peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians, Ir Amim and Terrestial
Jerusalem.

On his Facebook page he wrote that the attack occurred when he
encountered a traffic jam near a school area in the center of the Palestinian
neighborhood, while students were going home for the day.

“I didn’t see
it coming, but should have: I was a sitting duck,” he wrote. “The rock was
probably thrown at point blank range; it smashed the side window with enough
force to leave a deep gash in the back of my head.”

Shortly thereafter,
Seidemann, who lives a kilometer away, wrote that the traffic loosened up and he
was able to flee the area to get the gash sutured and undergo neurological
testing at the hands of two Palestinian physicians.

“The rock that hit me
yesterday was not directed at me, personally,” he wrote. “Most likely, it was
hurled because I am an Israeli – the occupier.

It’s also possible that
it’s because I am a Jew, irrespective of the occupation. We will never
know.”

“The wonderful people who visited me today are living under
occupation. My occupation.”

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